United States Department of Homeland Security
The Department of Homeland Security is a department of the federal government of the United States concerned with protecting the American homeland and the safety of American citizens. In was created partially in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
The new department was established on November 25, 2002 and officially began operation on January 24, 2003. After months of discussion about employee rights and benefits and "rider" portions of the bill, Congress passed it shortly after the midterm elections, and it was signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush. It is intended to consolidate U.S. executive branch organizations related to "homeland security" into a single cabinet agency by 2004. The new Department is headed by former governor Tom Ridge.
This was called the largest government reorganization in 50 years (since the United States Department of Defense was created).
The new department assumes a number of government functions previously in other departments.
It supersedes, but does not replace the Office of Homeland Security, which retains an advisory role.
The Department of Homeland Security is organized into four divisions, incorporating many existing federal functions (original parent agency in parentheses):
- Border and Transportation Security
- Emergency Preparedness and Response
- Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Countermeasures
- Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection.
In addition, the United States Secret Service and the United States Coast Guard report directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Controversy about adoption centered on whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency should be incorporated in part or in whole.
The bill itself was also controversial for the presence of unrelated riders, as well as eliminating some standard civil service and labor protections from employees of the department.
President Bush wanted the right to fire an employee within Homeland Security immediately for security reasons, for incompetence or insubordination. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle wanted an appeals process that could take up to 18 months or as little as one month.
On March 12, the Department of Homeland Security Advisory System was created as a Presidential Directive to provide a "comprehensive and effective means to disseminate information regarding the risk of terrorist acts to Federal, State, and local authorities and to the American people."
See also
External Links
Referenced By
1984 (book) | 1984 (novel) | 2002 | 2002 State of the Union Address | 2003 | 2003 Canada-U.S. blackout | 2003 Canada-US blackout | 2003 North America blackout | 2003 U.S.-Canada Blackout | 2003 US-Canada Blackout | 2003 blackout | 2003 electricity blackout in New York | 24 January | 24th January | 25 November | 25th November | Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau | As of 2002 | As of 2003 | BATF | Baby Bush | Blackout in New York | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms | Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement | Bush 43 | Bush Junior | Bush administration | Canada-U.S. Power System Outage Task Force | CanadaU.S. Power System Outage Task Force | Coast Guard | Coastguard | Color code | Columbia disaster | December 2003 | Deparment of Homeland Security Advisory System | Department of Defense | Department of Homeland Security Advisory System | Department of Justice | Department of Justice (United States) | Department of Transportation | Dubya | Eastasia | Environmentalism (Critique of George W. Bush's politics) | Environmentalism and George Bush | FEMA | Federal Emergency Management Agency | Federal Government of the United States | G. W. Bush | G. W. Bush administration | GW Bush | GeorgeWBush | George Bush, Jr. | George Bush Jr | George Bush Jr. | George Dubya | George Orwell/1984 | George W | George W. Bush | George W. Bush (Environmentalism) | George W. Bush administration | George W Bush | George Walker Bush | Gerorge W. Bush | Government of the United States | Homeland Security | Homeland defense | Iced Earth | Immigration and Naturalization Service | Inferior courts of the United States | January 2003 | January 24 | January 24th | L. Paul Bremer | L. Paul Bremer III | List of United States-related topics | List of United States Federal Legislation | List of United States of America-related topics | May 2003 | Military of the United States | Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (Canada) | National Military Establishment | Nineteen Eighty-Four | Nineteen Eighty-Four (novel) | November 2002 | November 25 | November 25th | Office of Homeland Security | Paul Bremer | Plum Island Animal Disease Center | President George W. Bush's anger and resolve | Secret Service | Secretary of Treasury | Secretary of the Treasury | September 11, 2001 attacks | Shrubya | SmarTruck | SmarTruck II | Smar Truck ...
|
